Will Windows show a warning if someone tries to guess my password for a lot of times?

Question

To access shared files on my Windonw 7 computer, another person can go through the wireless network and provide the correct user name and password and access those files.

I heard a 802.11b or g wireless password (correction: WEP encrpytion key) is very easy to break. If someone cracks the wireless password and then tries to loop through all password combinations using brute force, will Windows 7 actually give a warning on screen saying someone is trying to break into your system or someone tried more than 30 times with the wrong password trying to get access? I never read a Windows 7 book saying that there are such warnings.

Answer 1

Windows doesn't display a screen warning but you can audit the logon attempts:

• Log on as an administrator

• Click Start, click Run, type mmc /a (note the space between mmc and /a), and then click OK.

• On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in, and then click Add.

• Under Snap-in, click Group Policy, and then click Add.

• In Select Group Policy Object, click Local Computer, click Finish, click Close, and then click OK.

At this point, you might want to save this console for further use. Note: you can add multiple snap-in and manage multiple computers from this console.

• On the left hand side, navigate to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Audit Policy

• On the right hand side, double-click "Audit Logon Events"

• Check the boxes for Success and Failure, click OK

Now anytime a logon is attempted an entry will be created in the Security Log, which you can view with the Event Viewer.

Answer 2

802.11b and g have nothing to do with "passwords." WEP, which is a form of encryption for a wireless connection can be cracked very easily. WPA and WPA2 are Authentication methods that usually use AES as a form of encryption to keep the connection safe. If you use WPA2 with AES and a strong pre-share key you have nothing to worry about as far as your wireless security.

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Some routers manufacturers, such as Buffalo, allow for multiple WLANs and can segregate the traffic from your wired network essentially creating a guest WLAN. If you want to have your WII, iPhones, etc on a weak WEP connection (Wii and DS only support WEP anyway which sucks) then you can say that that specific wireless network cannot interact with any wired devices. You can have one WLAN with little or no security for guest access that cannot interact with your wired network and one with good security for your own devices that has full network access. the DD-WRT and Tomato firmware also allow for this.

Answer 3

No it doesn't.

Suggestions:

Create strong passwords and change them every three months--that usually helps. Another thing I incorporate, is start the password with a space. Additionally, I recommend using phrases, than words. Finally, you could try an encryption solution for additional security, giving access to specific users.

Answer 4

In addition to Molly's sage advice to audit login events, I would recommend instituting a lockout policy. In the same MMC snapin that you enable auditing, find the account lockout options. Set a maximum number of attempts (5 is standard) and a lockout duration (30 minutes is standard). Then if there are 5 failed login attempts within 30 minutes, it will lock out your account for 30 minutes. You won't be able to log in, but nor will they, and then you'll clearly know that somebody is tampering with your system. Note that The Administrator account cannot be locked out. All other accounts on the computer will be subjected to this policy though.